Chapter 113 Elizabeth (3)
“Don’t worry. We won’t bump into each other until the last day.”
After that, Miller left. He said he was going to gift an item to the officer who came by earlier. He seemed busy moving according to his plan.
‘Then let’s get going.’
By the time it started to grow dark, Yoon-seok quietly left the barracks again. He decided to believe Miller’s words that there was no battle until tomorrow. He made it seem as if he wanted to receive as many rewards as he could and clear the mission with the best conditions. That would be the goal of every challenger, including Miller, but Yoon-seok didn’t fall for it.
He came here to find out about Elle’s past. So, he was going to prioritize the goal, even if he lost some rewards.
Thudddd.
Yoon-seok, who hid his flag and left the military, ran through the plains full of blood. He went a little further than the plains until a rugged mountain range appeared.
‘Do I have to search all over here…?’
Yoon-seok, who searched the wide plain in less than 10 minutes, stopped walking and looked forward. The entrance of the mountain range…if the information he heard from the soldiers was right, they said somewhere in the mountains was the base of the Trejan Cult.
‘Let’s go in for now.’
Yoon-seok moved his body into the mountains without hesitation. The ground was muddy as if he was in a swamp, and the sound of wind hitting the trees around him felt somewhat creepy, but Yoon-seok wasn’t scared of these things now.
‘If I’m unlucky, I won’t be able to find her until it’s over.’
After digging through the mountains by spreading his senses as wide as possible, it wasn’t long before he realized that there was no reason why the Holy Trinity Cult wouldn’t march over the plains in full force. This was just the beginning.
With the plains in between, the heathens were trying to block the advancement of their enemies as much as possible, and before the Holy Trinity Cult started to march over with hundreds of thousands of troops, they were looking for their base. For reference, it had already been four months since the search continued in their fallback state, so there was a high probability that they were well-hidden.
‘Maybe I should have left Avatar on back then…?’
It was regrettable to think that his wings would’ve enabled a more extensive and rapid search. Of course, he could use b Demonify} to gain wings, but it wasn’t appropriate due to its one-minute time limit. However, Yoon-seok wasn’t one to regret what happened in the past.
Yoon-seok quickly came up with a countermeasure.
‘Well, if I don’t have wings, I’ll have to run.’
Of course, his definition of running was a little different than normal people’s.
Thump.
Yoon-seok leaped high into the sky. Then, he condensed Skywrath Energy in the air and used it as a stepping stone to run through the air as if he was crossing a stream. He was distracted because he had to continuously control the energy, but it would be a hundred times better than going through the mountains directly.
Poof! Poof!
After the sun completely went down, the sound of punching through the air was heard through the mountain range until the next morning.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“No, it is our leader who did all the hard work. Thanks to you, I’m going back alive.”
Seven days have passed since the mission began. The 10 challengers who chose Proficiency returned to the Tower after their mission, and their disappearance in this world was simply resolved as a death.
“Hey, Miller. We should have a drink together tonight.”
“Yes, if I’m still alive tonight.”
“Hahaha! You’re exaggerating.”
A lot changed over the past seven days while Yoon-seok was searching for their base every night. The confrontation was still ongoing, but should he say that at least the ‘Red Wolf’ mercenaries Miller named had undergone significant changes? After their first encounter with intermediate officer Lebuck Triman, Miller was on a roll building ties with the other senior executives.
The group of challengers who consistently contributed during the war also played a part, but the most influential factor was his skill. He received a badge two days ago and even had a solo meeting with the saint tomorrow, who was said to be hard to meet.
‘I think he’s making progress.’
Yoon-seok, who cleared two additional tasks in his last mission, could roughly guess. He wasn’t sure, but besides the useless honor, Miller would have taken the real reward.
‘Am I still in the same position compared to him?’
He participated in the battle without being left out. He did his part, and after that, Yoon-seok spent all of his remaining time wandering around the mountain range. Unknowingly, Yoon-seok was already accepted as a very unusual character among the challengers.
“Are you leaving again?”
A challenger, the elf woman who chose the only difficulty, spoke to Yoon-seok as he was about to leave the barracks. Unlike her delicate impression, she was a wizard who dealt with elemental magic of terrifying power.
“Yes, I think there will be additional assignments outside.”
Yoon-seok made the excuses that he had always made so that the other challengers wouldn’t bother him. However, today, this woman was a little different from usual.
“You don’t even know my name yet, do you?”
“…”
Yoon-seok was stung by her sharp words. However, as if she didn’t expect him to not know, the woman looked blank for a moment and soon came to her senses.
“My name is Shiori Mobilla.”
“I am Choi Yoon-seok.”
“I know that. It hurts my pride, but… anyway, the proficiency challengers have left, and there are fewer people now, so why don’t we stay and talk to them properly today?”
There was no malice. At first, the Judgment Sword identified that she had more good character than evil. This conversation was also a consideration for Yoon-seok, who seemed like an outsider. But frankly speaking, this kind of consideration was just cumbersome.
“I’m not interested in making friends.”
It would be the same even if he didn’t have the goal to investigate Elle. He was here for a mission, not for fun. Of course, he knew that there was teamwork involved. However, it also meant that they should at least be at the same level. After a few battles, Yoon-seok realized even if all of them died one day, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to clear the mission independently.
“…Okay, do whatever you want.”
When Yoon-seok cut down her attempt, Mobilla didn’t repeat herself. She looked somewhat offended, but if he didn’t do this, he would be bothered again and again. Yoon-seok headed for the mountain range, feeling relieved.
‘Let’s get this over with today.’
There was no significant gain in the seven-day search. He searched high and low, but he couldn’t find any clues directing to the base. It was to the point where Yoon-seok felt a sense of respect for the rangers of the military unit who came to the mountain range whenever there was a battle.
Yoon-seok decided to do something different.
‘I’ve been thinking wrongly.’
It wasn’t a place to look for in the first place. It was so thorough that even captured prisoners didn’t know the base’s location because they used teleportation. Honestly, he wondered if they were based here right now.
‘If I can’t find it, then they’ll have to come out on their own.’
Yoon-seok first activated King of All Swords to make his stats grow.
「 To Lady’s Commandment, the range of Judgment of the Ruined Monarch is increased by 10 times within the realm.」
The basic range of Judgment of the Ruined Monarch plus the added traits was 20 meters in radius. Then, multiplied by 10.
‘A radius of 200 meters…’
Of course, it would be only a fraction of this vast mountain range. However, it only should require turning one peak into powder.
‘Judgment of the Ruined Monarch.’
Soon the sky turned black, and the Light of Destruction shot from the sky. When the flash of light died down, the peak where Yoon-seok was at disappeared, and instead, there was a huge sinkhole in its place.
‘I don’t think it’s here.’
Yoon-seok went over to the next mountain peak without much excitement and did the same thing again.
‘Judgment of the Ruined Monarch.’
Originally, the cooldown of this skill was 40 minutes, but Yoon-seok had b Non-verbal magic} that allowed him to use the skill again once every 10 minutes.
Boooooooom—!
So another mountain peak disappeared. But…
Grumbleeeeee!
Did the two strikes cause the strata layer to diverge? It wasn’t what he intended, but the entire mountain range began to shake like an earthquake. It wasn’t bad. This was what it took to get the snake out of the grass.
“…”
However, contrary to his expectations, neither the heathens nor mythical creatures showed up. Perhaps the snakes hiding in the grass were so surprised that they curled up deeper.
‘Or maybe the base wasn’t here at all.’
At this point, he wondered if the Holy Trinity Cult knew any out-of-the-ordinary information. He decided to go all out by the end of today anyway. Yoon-seok didn’t give up and continued wandering around the mountain range using the skill whenever the waiting time was up. It was about five hours after that…
‘Oh, is this it?’
On the mountain where darkness has fallen, after dully repeating the act, Yoon-seok’s eyes glinted. Under the sinkhole where there should be nothing, there was an unusual sense of magic.
Yoon-seok went under the sinkhole using Light of Purification to find a blue portal located in a place that looked like an altar room.
‘I think I found it.’
「You have entered the Holy Land of the Trejan Cult.」
Smile.
As soon as he entered the portal with a smile on his face, a phrase appeared. Thanks to that, he was able to realize that he found it.
‘They deserve to be called heathens.’
Yoon-seok looked around for now. The space he arrived in was similar to the Great Labyrinth of Abyss during the last exploration trial. Should he say it was like an underground dungeon? There were countless lanterns lit on the wall, but overall it was dark. The ceiling was only 40m in height, and in proportion to this, the wide passage was full of murals that projected a weird atmosphere.
‘Do they not know that I broke in yet?’
Yoon-seok walked out of the passage where no one welcomed him and encountered a huge stone gate.
“W-who are you?”
In front of the stone gate, there was a person who looked like a gatekeeper. Even though he was likely to be wary of Yoon-seok, who suddenly appeared, he was flustered and politely asked for his identity. Perhaps he thought he was a high-ranking member of the cult.
“Get out of my way.”
He couldn’t simply move on to the conversation with an excuse.
“T-this is a holy place. If you can’t confirm your identity… no, if you don’t have an order from the headquarters, we can’t move….”
Slash.
Yoon-seok didn’t repeat himself. He just swung his sword and divided the stone gate into two pieces.
“I-intruder…”
The gatekeeper, who was hit by the fallen debris, mumbled and fainted. Yoon-seok entered over the stone gate without paying much attention to him. He soon found a girl.
「There are special challenges within a 20 meters radius.」
「Punish Lady Elizabeth Lorwen of the heathens.」
He knew even without the phrases that the little girl with thousands of chains tying her body to the wall was Elle.
“Elle…”
However, it was different from the previous mission. She didn’t have the appearance of a 10-year-old girl. She looked about 17, maybe 18. It was difficult to estimate her exact age because she was all skin and bones.
Yoon-seok clenched his teeth without realizing it.
“W…ho…?”
Did she just come to her senses from the commotion outside? Elle looked up helplessly. At the same time, her eyes hardened over with blood were revealed through her scarlet hair. Yoon-seok was speechless.
‘What in the world is this…?’
The place where her eyes should be was empty. Previously, he’d heard how she lost her eyes when she was still alive. But…
‘At such a young age?’
What on earth happened? Wasn’t she the final boss? The lady of the heathens? Why was she locked up in such a way? It overlapped with her vibrant appearance during her childhood in the last mission, so he felt even more empathetic.
“This voice… are you, mister? You’re back. I knew you’d come back.”
He didn’t know what mister Elle was talking about. However, he could tell just by her voice that it was someone she respected and depended on.
“Help… me. I want to get out of here…”
Elle’s voice cracked. Like holding the last rope in the dark, she squeezed out the remaining energy left in her body.
Slashhh!
Yoon-seok swung his sword, cut off the chains that bound Elle all at once, and carefully hugged her, who fainted.
「You’ve accepted the hidden challenge of Elizabeth Lorwen’s request.」
「The contents of the mission will be changed.」
「For the rest of the day, guard Elizabeth Lorwen from the forces of the Trejan Sect and the Holy Trinity Cult. The mission fails if the escort dies.」
Hundreds of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of monsters. It meant both of these groups had turned into enemies, but…
‘That’s great.’
Yoon-seok smiled coldly instead. It had been boring before, but now it seemed to be a little more challenging.
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